Speed regulating equipment for a winding machine



Nov. 26, 1963 F. GARTEN 3,112,086

SPEED REGULATING EQUIPMENT FOR A WINDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Fa M 6/2 Tf/V ATTORNEYS SPEED REGULATING EQUIPMENT FOR A WINDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21, 1960 F. GARTEN Nov. 26, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Fa IX 6/7R7E/V United States Patent 3,112,086 SPEED REGULATING EQUIPMENT FOR A WINDHNG MACHINE Felix Garten, Bickenbaeh, Hesse, Germany, assignor to Maschinenfabriir Goebel Gandhi-i. Filed Get. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 64,105 Qlaims priority, application Germany Get. 22, 1959 4 Claims. (Cl. 24267.5)

This invention relates to speed regulating devices for machines to rewind webs of paper, plastic materials and the like.

In connection with machines for rewinding webs of paper and the like, it is known to vary the speed of the winding shaft to a considerable degree in order to obtain an almost uniform -web speed. Frequently, it may also be desirable to control the torque on the winding shaft so as to be nearly proportional to the rewind diameter.

Many different devices deal with these problems. If, for example, an electric motor is used for the direct drive of the winding shaft, its speed range is normally not wide enough, and any extension of this speed range involves major costs. Another disadvantage is that the motor must develop its maximum torque at its minimum speed and that therefore a very powerful motor is required. On the other hand, if the speed regulation is effected by means of a speed transmission device, preferably an infinitely variable one, placed between the drive motor and the winding shaft, complicated regulating devices are required for changing the transmission ratio to correspond exactly to the changing rewind diameter.

In accordance with this invention, the speed of the winding shaft is also regulated by means of an infinitely variable transmission placed between the drive and the winding shaft. With this transmission, the adjustment of the transmission ratio is considerably simpler than on any of the known attachments, in that one or several pumps with a variable output are driven in conjunction with the winding shaft and are connected with a cylinder which receives the liquid fed by the pump or pumps, and the movement of its piston thus actuated, adjusts the control rnember of the infinitely variable transmission. Since the pump is connected with the winding shaft, a certain quantity of the liquid is fed at each revolution of the shaft, every time displacing the piston of the cylinder by a certain amount.

The amount by which the rewinding roll increases or decreases with each revolution of the winding shaft depends on the thickness of the material handled. In order that the adjustment of the transmission ratio caused by the hydraulic device corresponds exactly to the increase or decrease in roll diameter, the adjustment applied during each turn of the winding shaft to the control member of the variable transmission must be made to be variable. This variability may be obtained, for example, by interposing between the piston of the cylinder receiving the liquid and the control member of the infinitely variable transmission a mechanism consisting of several adjustable levers. Alternatively, the output of the pump could be made to be infinitely variable by changing the effective stroke of the piston. The specific setting of these control means will influence the amount of movement of the control member which changes the transmission ratio. Obviously, the movement of the control member during each shaft revolution is very small, that is, only a fraction of a millimeter.

During rewinding ope-rations, the required speed of rotation is generally inversely proportional to the rewinding diameter, which means that it has hyperbolic characteristics. This must be taken into account when setting the infinitely variable transmission. According to "ice the invention, this may therefore be made possible for the piston to work upon a cam-like portion of the lever which moves the control member of the transmission. This cam should be shaped so as to ensure the hyperbolic character of the speed variation, and the shape of the cam can however also fulfill other functions which are necessary for a good winding result. The cam may also be used, if necessary, to correct the off-linear characteristic of the infinitely variable transmission.

The winding shafts are frequently driven over interposed friction clutches and these are used in some cases for the speed control of the winding shaft, mainly for controlling the torque to be transmitted to the winding shaft. Thus the tension with which one or several webs are wound on the winding shaft is kept within certain limits and does not exceed a maximum beyond which the web would break. The setting of the friction clutch, however, must be constantly readjusted during the winding operation, since otherwise, for example, the web tension might decrease as a function of the increasing roll diameter.

In a further modification according to the invention, the same device which elfects the speed regulation in accordance with the invention is used for the automatic readjustment of the friction clutch. The only difference between the speed regulating and the readjusting device is that in the latter a spring is mounted into the lever mechanism which transmits the piston movement of the hydraulic cylinder to the control member for controlling the torque. This spring will press on the clutch as the piston moves and in the same manner the winding shaft may be braked if a web is unwound therefrom. While however, in rewinding operations the pressure on the friction clutch must constantly increase because of the increasing roll diameter, conversely the braking effect in the unwinding operations must decrease since also the roll diameter decreases.

If a major number of single strips are wound on one winding shaft, every strip is generally provided with its own friction clutch and these clutches are placed on the winding shaft in a way to be loaded together by a force from one end of the winding shaft, the regulation of the torque being effected by a variation of this force. The force may also be generated by the device according to the invention and thus a regulation of the so-called single friction is obtained.

Further objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description in which FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view showing a system for the regulation of the speed of rotation of rewinding equipment without the use of a cam,

FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic view showing a system for the regulation of the speed of rotation of rewinding equipment with the use of a cam, and

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the transmission means with torque regulation with parts in section.

Referring to FIG. 1, the drive for the winding shaft 106 includes a variable transmission '1 driven by a rnotor 101 through a shaft 2, with the output having a shaft 3 on which a sprocket gear 102. is mounted. Any type of transmission such as those known as P.I.V. transmissions for example may be used for the infinitely variable speed transmission of which the transmission ratio should be variable by means of a lever.

The sprocket wheel 102 drives another sprocket wheel 104 by means of a chain 103 and this sprocket wheel 104 is secured on a shaft 105 which is also driven. The winding shaft 106 is connected to the shaft 105 by means of a clutch so that the rotation of shaft 3 is transmitted to the winding shaft 106. A sprocket wheel 4 is mounted on the shaft 3 and drives the shaft of a pump 7 by means of a chain and a. sprocket wheel 6. The amount of liquid fed or forced by the pump 7 during each revolution of the shaft 3 may be controlled, for example, by handwheel 8. Several such systems of pumps are known in which the amount of liquid is proportional to the speed of rotation introduced into the pump, but which have additional regulating means. For the purpose in question especially such pumps are suitable which are used generally as fuel injection pumps for motors, but it is also possible to use any other type of pump meeting these requirements, which however are not further described herein because the specific structure of the pump itself is not any part of this invention.

The liquid pumped by the pump 7 is fed into a cylinder 12 over a pipeline 9 through a valve 10 and a flexible line 11, provided the valve It} is set in such a way that the line 11 is connected with line 9. If however the valve 10 is set to provide a connection between line '11 and a pipeline 13, the piston 14 presses the liquid out of the cylinder 12 by the force of a spring 15, and the liquid is then discharged into a container 16. The piston 14 thus reaches its extreme right position which corresponds to the extreme right position of a control lever 17 which latter regulates the transmission ratio of the variable transmission 1. This position generally conforms to the beginning of the winding opera tion.

When the motor 101 begins to run, the driving shaft 3 starts rotating at a speed determined by the gearing 1. At the same time the pump 7 starts and since the valve 10 was re-set to connect pipelines 9 and 11, the pump 7 feeds liquid into the cylinder 12. Consequently the piston 14 moves to the left, FIG. 1, and shifts the lever 17 also to the left which changes the gear ratio in the infinitely variable transmission. Obviously, the amount of liquid fed by the pump and the movements of the par-ts concerned are actually very small, because the left-hand position of the control lever 17 and thus the maximum re-setting of the transmission ratio should, in general, only be reached at the end of the winding operation, if at all. Should it nevertheless take place that the left-hand position of the control lever and thus the absolute maximum or regulation of the transmission is reached before the winding operation is finished, an excessive pressure of the liquid would be produced inside the pump 7, the pipelines 9 and 11, and the cylinder 12. To prevent the latter, a branch pipeline 18 is connected to the pipeline 9 and is provided with a relief valve 19 which then may open and feed the excessive liquid back into the container 16. The liquid in the container 16 is conveyed by suction by the pump 7 through a pipeline 20.

Before a new winding operation starts, the valve 10 must be reset in order that the piston 14 and thus the control lever 17 shall regain their initial positions. As soon as the valve 10 again connects the pipelines 9 and 11, the device is ready to regulate the speed for a new winding operation.

As mentioned heretofore, the regulation of the transmission ratio must be adapted to the thickness of the material to be wound. This is accomplished by setting the handwheel 8 which controls the liquid pumped by the pump 7. When the paper is thin, there should only be a little increase of the diameter with each turn of the roll, and accordingly the pump 7 should feed only a small amount. On heavier papers, the output of the pump must increase in proportion. Therefore, as the setting of the handwheel 8 determines the output of the pump 7, a scale may be provided on the pump near the handwheel to indicate the correct setting for different types of material.

In the construction according to FIG. 2, the drive elements of the winding shaft and the pump, the pump itself and the pipelines and valves are mounted and connected in the same manner as in the construction of FIG. 1 and they have the same functions. For this reason they are shown in FIG. 2 with the same references to which a prime mark is added. In this construction, however, the piston 21 of cylinder 22 corresponding to the piston 14 is not directly coupled with a control lever, but operates a pivoted lever 23 which carries a pulley or roller 24 at its lower end. Against this roller a spring-loaded control lever 27 is pressed by a tension spring 25 and having a cam portion 26 in contact with the roller 24.

As soon as the motor 101' drives the winding shaft 106 and the pump 7', the latter forces liquid into the cylinder 22 so that the piston 21 is thus moved to the left. The lever 23 and the holler 24 follow this movement with the roller 24 thereby rolling over the camshaped portion 26 to press the upper part of the lever 27 to the left around its central pivot connected to the transmission 1'. By this movement, the transmission ratio of the infinitely variable transmission 1 is changed. Contrary to the construction according to FIG. 1, this change is not effected proportional to the piston movement, but following a different characteristic which is created by the shape of the cam portion 25 and which may be accommodated to specific winding conditions in addition to the characteristic of the infinitely variable transmission.

The construction according to FIG. 3 illustrates the control of the torque to be transmitted to the winding shaft or the winding cores, and this control is effected by pressing against one or several friction clutches at a variable pressure. To this end, liquid is fed through a pipeline 44 to a cylinder 28 in the same way and under equal conditions as in the previously described constructions. All parts necessary for this function are similar in all respects to those of the other constructions and therefore have been omitted from FIG. 3 to simplify the illustration. The liquid fed from the pump to the cylinder 28 through pipeline 44 moves the piston 29 to the right, which movement is transmitted to a level 30 pivotally connected to the piston rod, a connecting rod 31 and an angle or bell crank lever 32, which are also pivotally connected with each other. Thereby the movement of the piston 29 is transmitted to a spring 33 which is secured with one end to the angle lever 32 and with the other end to one end of a lever 34. The other end of this lever 34 presses against a bushing 35 on a friction clutch which may, for example, consist of two single clutches on either side of the winding core 39. The members 36 of these clutches are mounted on the winding shaft 37, to be laterally displaceable along this shaft, but not freely rotating therearound, while the other members 38 rotate freely with the core 39 around the winding shaft 37. Between the members 36 and 38 there is a friction lining which may be secured to one of these members. The force with which the lever 34 presses against the bushing 35 results from the force of the spring 33 which, in turn, depends on the swing of the angle lever 32 effected by the piston 29. The lever 34 is pivotally mounted on a shaft 40 which may be adjusted parallel to the winding shaft by being rotatably mounted on a threaded spindle which is operated by a handwheel 41. It is thereby possible to adjust the force of the lever 34 on the bushing 35 to the value necessary at the beginning of the winding operation, and the further increase of this pressure force during the winding operation is caused by the operation of the pump which will force the piston 29 within the cylinder 28 to the right.

The degree of pressure increase must be adapted to the thickness of the material 42 being wound or unwound, similar as for the speed regulating operation. This may be accomplished by regulating the amount of liquid fed by the pump, as was described in connection with the constructions of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. Another possibility for regulating the pressure increase would be by having a variable transmission ratio between the piston movement and the swing of the angle lever 32. To this end, the connecting rod 3?. may be linked to various points of perforations in the angle lever 32, these points being shown in the drawing by bores in this lever. In stead of these bores, also a slot may be made into the angle lever to locate the link pin for the connection with the rod 31. The link pin itself may be secured in any position in the slot, and this enables an infinitely variable adjustability of the transmission ratio. Further, a regulation of the rod 31 at the angle lever 32 or a similar adjustment of the rod to the lever 30 will change the characteristic of the pressure increase, as in such a way that the friction pressure increases toward the end of the winding operation less than would correspond to the roll diameter. This is frequently desired.

In order that the piston 29 will return into its initial position after the winding operatin and after resetting the valve, a tension spring 43 is provided which, for instance, acts on the lever 30 which returns the piston to its original position. Although this operation will result in a decrease of the pressure of the lever 34 on the bushing 35, it may become desirable when mounting or removing the winding shaft to eliminate this pressure completely and to have the lever 34 lift oif from the bushing. This may be accomplished by withdrawing the shaft 4-0 by means of the handwheel 41.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mechanism for regulating the winding of webs of material onto a winding shaft, comprising a variable transmission unit having a setting lever connected thereto and a shaft with two sprocket wheels mounted thereon, a motor for driving said unit, a third sprocket wheel mounted on the winding shaft, means interconnecting one of the sprocket wheels of the shaft and the third sprocket wheel to drive the winding shaft from the motor and the transmission unit, and a fluid system operable by the transmission unit and comprising a cylinder and piston with the latter connected to operate the setting lever, said fluid system including a pump connected to the other of the first-mentioned sprocket wheels and operable by the transmission unit with a pipeline con- 6 nected to the cylinder for operation of the piston to change the transmission unit to regulate the speed of the winding shaft as the diameter of the winding of the web of material progresses.

2. Installation for a machine for winding webs of paper, plastic materials and the like to regulate the rotational speed of a winding shaft comprising a transmission unit having a variable output and provided with a control lever, a motor connected to drive the transmission unit, a shaft driven by the transmission unit, and having a pair of sprocket wheels mounted thereon, a fluid regulating system having a pump connected to one of the sprocket wheels and operable by the transmission unit and a cylinder and piston connected to operate the control lever with pipe communication between the pump and the cylinder, said contnol lever regulating the transmission ratio from the beginning of the winding of the web to the end of the operation to compensate for the changing diameter of the Wound web on the winding shaft and means connected to the winding shaft and the other sprocket wheel to rotate the winding shaft.

3. Installation according to claim 2, in which a branch pipeline with a relief valve is connected to the pipe communication between the pump and the cylinder to take care of excess pressure created by the pump and drain off excessive fluid.

4. Installation acconding to claim 2, in which the fluid regulating system includes a valve connected to the pipeline from the pump to the cylinder to adjust 0 the fluid feed to the cylinder or out of the cylinder when the winding of the web has been completed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 659,067 Irwin Oct. 2, 1900 1,549,585 Marcellus Aug. 11, 1925 1,602,954 Todd Oct. 12, 1926 2,563,660 Rebut et al. Aug. 7, 1951 2,680,573 Monkley June 8, 1954 2,694,300 Cherigie Nov. 16, 1954 2,829,843 Lahti Apr. 8, 1958 2,977,061 Lawler-Wilson Mar. 28, 1961 

1. A MECHANISM FOR REGULATING THE WINDING OF WEBS OF MATERIAL ONTO A WINDING SHAFT, COMPRISING A VARIABLE TRANSMISSION UNIT HAVING A SETTING LEVER CONNECTED THERETO AND A SHAFT WITH TWO SPROCKET WHEELS MOUNTED THEREON, A MOTOR FOR DRIVING SAID UNIT, A THIRD SPROCKET WHEEL MOUNTED ON THE WINDING SHAFT, MEANS INTERCONNECTING ONE OF THE SPROCKET WHEELS OF THE SHAFT AND THE THIRD SPROCKET WHEEL TO DRIVE THE WINDING SHAFT FROM THE MOTOR AND THE TRANSMISSION UNIT, AND A FLUID SYSTEM OPERABLE BY THE TRANSMISSION UNIT AND COMPRISING A CYLINDER AND PISTON WITH THE LATTER CONNECTED TO OPERATE THE SETTING LEVER, SAID FLUID SYSTEM INCLUDING A PUMP CONNECTED TO THE OTHER OF THE FIRST-MENTIONED SPROCKET WHEELS AND OPERABLE BY THE TRANSMISSION UNTI WITH A PIPELINE CONNECTED TO THE CYLINDER FOR OPERATION OF THE PISTON TO CHANGE THE TRANSMISSION UNIT TO REGULATE THE SPEED OF THE WINDING SHAFT AS THE DIAMETER OF THE WINDING OF THE WEB OF MATERIAL PROGRESSES. 